BR112020016398A2 - BEAM SWITCHING TIME CAPACITY FEEDBACK - Google Patents

Abstract

certain aspects of the present disclosure pertain to methods and apparatus for providing beam switching latency using communications systems operating in accordance with new radio (nr) technologies. for example, the method generally includes determining a latency associated with a beam switching from a source antenna array module to a target antenna array module when the target module is in a low power mode, and signaling a base station to use the latency determined after sending a command for beam switching.

Description

“BEAM SWITCHING TIME CAPACITY FEEDBACK” PRIORITY CLAIM PROVIDED IN TITLE 35 OF U.S.C. §119

[0001] This application claims priority from Application No. US 16/274,359, filed February 13, 2019, which claims the benefit and priority of Provisional Patent Application Serial No. US 62/710,456, filed February 16, 2019 2018, and Provisional Patent Application Serial No. US 62/633,068, filed on February 20, 2018, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Field of Revelation

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for providing beam switching latency using communication systems operating in accordance with new radio (NR) technologies. Related Technique Description

[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies with the ability to support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (eg, bandwidth, transmission power). Examples of such multiple access technologies include Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TDMA) systems -SCDMA).

[0004] In some examples, a wireless multiple access communication system may include multiple base stations, each of which simultaneously supports communication to multiple communication devices, otherwise known as user equipment (UEs). In the LTE or LTE-A network, a set of one or more base stations can define an eNodeB (eNB). In other examples (e.g. on a next generation or 5G network), a wireless multiple access communication system may include multiple distributed units (DUs) (e.g. edge units (EUs), edge nodes (ENs) ), radio heads (RHs), intelligent radio heads (SRHs), transmit and receive points (TRPs), etc.) access node (ANCs), etc.), where a set of one or more distributed units, in communication with a central unit, can define an access node (e.g., a new radio base station (BS NR) , a new radio node B (NB NR), a network node, 5G NB, eNB, Next Generation Node B (gNB), etc.). A base station or DU can communicate with a set of UEs on downlink (DL) channels (for example, for transmissions from a base station or to a UE) and uplink (UL) channels (for e.g. for transmissions from a UE to a base station or distributed unit).

[0005] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that allows different wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national, regional and even global level. An example of an emerging telecommunication standard is new radio (NR), eg 5G radio access. NR is a set of enhancements to the LTE mobile standard enacted by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). It is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improving spectral efficiency, reducing costs, enhancing services, making use of new spectrum, and better integrating with other open standards using OFDMA with a cyclic prefix (CP) downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) as well as supporting beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation.

[0006] However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, there is a desire for further enhancements in NR technology. Preferably, these enhancements should be applicable to other multiple access technologies and to the telecommunication standards that employ those technologies.

SUMMARY

[0007] The systems, methods and devices of revelation have several aspects, none of which are solely responsible for their desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of this disclosure, as expressed by the claims that follow, some features will be briefly discussed. After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled “Detailed Description”, one will understand how the features of this disclosure provide advantages that include improved communications between access points and stations in a wireless network.

[0008] Certain aspects provide a method for wireless communication through a user equipment (UE). The method generally includes determining a latency associated with a beam switching from a source antenna array module to a target antenna array module when the target module is in a low power mode, and signaling a base station to use the latency determined after sending a command for beam switching.

[0009] Certain aspects provide a method for wireless communication through a network entity. The method generally includes receiving from a user equipment an indication of a beam switching latency associated with a beam switching at the UE from a source antenna array module to a destination antenna, sending a beam switching to the UE, and applying the indicated beam switching latency after sending the beam switching command.

[0010] Aspects generally include methods, apparatus, systems, computer readable media and processing systems as substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. Several other aspects are provided.

[0011] In order to realize the aforementioned and related objectives, the one or more aspects comprise the features described fully hereinafter and particularly indicated in the claims. The following description and accompanying drawings present in detail certain illustrative features of one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, of only a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects may be employed, and this description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] In order that the aforementioned features of the present disclosure may be understood in detail, a more particular description, briefly summarized above, may be obtained with reference to aspects, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be noted, however, that the accompanying drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of this disclosure and, therefore, should not be considered as limiting its scope, so that the description can admit other aspects equally effective.

[0013] Figure 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an exemplary telecommunications system in which aspects of the present disclosure may be realized.

[0014] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary logical architecture of a distributed RAN, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary physical architecture of a distributed RAN, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 4 is a block diagram that conceptually illustrates a design of an exemplary BS and user equipment (UE) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 5 is a diagram showing examples for implementing a communication protocol stack, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 6 illustrates an example of a frame format for a new radio (NR) system, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 7 illustrates an example of antenna array module placement in a UE, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 8 illustrates an example of mode adjustments for antenna array modules over time, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 9 illustrates exemplary operations for wireless communications via a user equipment (UE), in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 10 illustrates exemplary operations for wireless communications through a network entity, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] For ease of understanding, identical reference numbers have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the Figures. It is contemplated that elements described in one aspect may be beneficially used in other aspects without specific mention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems and computer readable media for NR (New Radio Access Technology or 5G Technology).

[0024] NR can support various wireless communication services, such as advanced mobile bandwidth (eMBB) which drives wide bandwidth (e.g. beyond 80 MHz), millimeter wave (mmW) which drives high carrier frequency (e.g. 27 GHz or beyond), massive MTC (mMTC) that drives non-backward compatible MTC techniques, and/or mission critical that drives ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC). These services may include latency and reliability requirements. These services can also have different transmission time intervals (TTI) to meet their quality of service (QoS) requirements. Also, these services can coexist in the same subframe.

[0025] The following description provides examples, and is not limited to the scope, applicability or examples set forth in the claims. Changes can be made to the function and arrangement of the elements discussed without departing from the scope of disclosure. Various examples may omit, replace, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, the methods described may be performed in a different order than described, and several steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Additionally, the features described in relation to some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of aspects presented herein. Furthermore, the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover such apparatus or method which is practiced using another structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to various other aspects of the disclosure presented herein. It is to be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be incorporated by one or more elements of a claim. The word “exemplary” is used in this document to mean “to serve as an example, instance or illustration”. Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” should not necessarily be interpreted as preferential or advantageous over other aspects.

[0026] The techniques described in this document can be used for various wireless communication networks, such as LTE, CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA and other networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc.

UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network can implement a radio technology such as NR (e.g. 5G RA, Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultramobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, OFDMA Flash, etc.

UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). NR is an emerging wireless communication technology under development in conjunction with the 5G Technology Forum (5GTF). Long Term Evolution 3GPP (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are versions of UMTS that use E-UTRA.

UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described in the documents of an organization called “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization called “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). “LTE” generally refers to LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE on an unlicensed spectrum (LTE-whitespace), etc.

The techniques described in this document can be used for the wireless networks and radio technologies mentioned above, as well as other wireless networks and radio technologies.

For the sake of clarity, while the aspects may be described herein using terminology commonly associated with 3G and/or 4G wireless technologies, the aspects of the present disclosure may be applied to communication systems based on another generation, such as such as 5G and later, including NR technologies.

EXAMPLE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

[0027] Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless network 100, such as a new radio (NR) or 5G network, in which aspects of the present disclosure may be realized.

[0028] As illustrated in Figure 1, the wireless network 100 may include a number of BSs 110 and other network entities. A BS can be a station that communicates with UEs. Each BS 110 can provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to a coverage area of a Node B and/or a Node B subsystem that serves that coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the term “cell” and eNB, Node B, NB 5G, AP, BS NR, BS NR, gNB or TRP may be interchangeable. In some examples, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move according to the location of a mobile base station. In some examples, base stations may be interconnected with each other and/or with one or more other base stations or network nodes (not shown) on wireless network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces (transport channel return), such as a direct physical connection, a virtual network or the like, using any suitable transport network.

[0029] In general, any number of wireless networks can be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network can support a particular radio access technology (RAT) and can operate on more than one frequency. A RAT can also be called a radio technology, an air interface, etc. A frequency can also be called a carrier, a frequency channel, etc. Each frequency can support a single RAT in a given geographic area in order to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR or RAT 5G networks can be deployed.

[0030] A BS can provide communication coverage for a macrocell, picocell, femtocell, and/or other cell types. A macrocell can cover a relatively large geographic area (for example, several kilometers in radius) and can allow unrestricted access through UEs with a service subscription. A picocell can cover a relatively small geographic area and can allow unrestricted access through UEs with service subscription. A femtocell also covers a small geographic area (e.g. a household) and may allow restricted access through UEs that have an association with the femtocell (e.g. UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in the household, etc.). A BS for a macrocell can be called a BS macro. A BS for a picocell can be called a BS peak. A BS for a femtocell can be called a femto BS or an initial BS. In the example shown in Figure 1, BSs 110a, 110b and 110c can be macro BSs for macro cells 102a, 102b and 102c, respectively. The 110x BS can be a BS peak for a 102x picocell. BSs 110y and 110z can be femto BS for femtocells 102y and 102z, respectively. A BS can support one or multiple (eg three) cells.

[0031] Wireless network 100 may also include relay stations. A relay station is a station that receives a transmission of data and/or other information from an upstream station (e.g., a BS or a UE) and sends a transmission of the data and/or other information to an upstream station. downstream (e.g. a UE or a BS). A relay station can also be a UE that relays transmissions to other UEs. In the example shown in Figure 1, a relay station 110r may communicate with a BS 110a and a UE 120r in order to facilitate communication between the BS 110a and the UE 120r. A relay station may also be called a relay BS, a relay, etc.

[0032] Wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network that includes BSs of different types, e.g. macro BS, pico BS, femto BS, relays, etc. These different types of BSs can have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and different impact on wireless network interference.

100. For example, macro BS may have a high transmit power level (eg 20 Watts) while peak BS, femto BS and retransmits may have a lower transmit power level (eg 1 Watt).

[0033] Wireless network 100 can support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, BSs can have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs can be approximately time aligned. For asynchronous operation, BSs may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs may not be time aligned. The techniques described in this document can be used for both synchronous and asynchronous operation.

[0034] A network controller 130 can be coupled to a set of BSs and provide coordination and control for those BSs. Network controller 130 may communicate with BSs 110 via a backhaul. BSs 110 can also communicate, for example, directly or indirectly via wireless or wired backhaul.

[0035] The UEs 120 (eg, 120x, 120y, etc.) may be dispersed across the wireless network 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be called a mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a station, a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), a cell phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant ( PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local mesh station (WLL), a tablet computer, a camera , a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device or medical equipment, a healthcare device, a biometric sensor/device, a body-worn device such as a smart watch, smart garment, smart glasses, virtual reality glasses, a smart bracelet, smart jewelry (e.g. a smart ring, smart bracelet, etc.), an entertainment device (e.g. a music device, a video positive, a satellite radio, etc.), a vehicle component or sensor, a smart meter/sensor, a robot, a drone, industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning device (e.g. GPS, Beidou, terrestrial ), or any other suitable device that is configured to communicate over a wireless or wired medium.

Some UEs can be considered machine-type communication devices (MTC) or evolved MTC devices (eMTC), which can include remote devices that can communicate with a base station, another remote device, or some other entity.

Machine-type communications (MTC) can refer to communication that involves at least one remote device at at least one end of the communication, and can include forms of data communication that involve one or more entities that do not necessarily require human interaction.

MTC UEs may include UEs that are capable of MTC communications with MTC servers and/or other MTC devices via Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMN), for example.

MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, cameras, location tags, etc. another entity.

A wireless node may provide, for example, connectivity to or with a network (for example, a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellular network) over a wired or wireless communication link.

MTC UEs, like other UEs, can be implemented as Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, for example, narrowband IoT devices (NB-IoT).

[0036] In Figure 1, a solid line with double arrows indicates the desired transmissions between a UE and a serving BS, which is a BS designated to service the UE on the downlink and/or uplink. A dashed line with double arrows indicates interfering transmissions between a UE and a BS.

[0037] Certain wireless networks (eg LTE) use orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single carrier division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal (K) subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can be system bandwidth dependent. For example, the subcarrier spacing could be 15 kHz and the minimum resource allocation (called a 'resource block') could be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal FFT size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for the system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. System bandwidth can also be partitioned into sub-bands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (e.g. 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 subbands for the 1.25 system bandwidth, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20 MHz, respectively.

While aspects of the examples described herein may be associated with LTE technologies, aspects of the present disclosure may be applicable to other wireless communications systems, such as NR.

In LTE, the basic transmission time interval (TTI) or packet duration is 1 subframe.

In NR, a subframe is still 1 ms, however the basic TTI is referred to as a partition.

A subframe contains a variable number of partitions (eg 1, 2, 4, 8, 16,... partitions) depending on the pitch spacing (eg 15, 30, 60, 120, 240... kHz) . NR can use OFDM with a CP on the uplink and downlink and include support for half-duplex operation using time division duplexing (TDD). A single component carrier bandwidth of 100 MHz can be supported.

NR resource blocks can span 12 subcarriers with a subcarrier bandwidth of 75kHz over a duration of 0.1ms.

Each radio frame may consist of 2 half frames, each half frame consisting of 5 subframes, with a length of 10 ms.

Consequently, each subframe can be 1 ms long.

Each subframe can indicate a link direction (eg DL or UL) for data transmission and the link direction for each subframe can be dynamically switched.

Each subframe can include DL/UL data as well as DL/UL control data.

Beam forming can be supported and beam direction can be dynamically configured.

Pre-encoded MIMO streams can also be supported.

MIMO configurations on DL can support up to 8 broadcast antennas with multilayer DL transmissions up to 8 streams and up to 2 streams per UE. Multilayer transmissions with up to 2 streams per UE can be supported. Multiple cell aggregation can be supported with up to 8 server cells. Alternatively, NR can support a different air interface in addition to the OFDM-based one. NR networks can include entities such as CUs and/or DUs.

[0038] In some examples, air interface access may be programmed, where a programming entity (e.g., a base station) allocates resources for communication between some or all of the devices and equipment within its area or cell. service. Within the present disclosure, as discussed further below, the scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources to one or more subordinate entities. That is, for scheduled communication, subordinate entities use resources allocated by the scheduling entity. Base stations are not the only entities that can function as a programming entity. That is, in some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity, scheduling resources for one or more subordinate entities (eg, one or more other UEs). In this example, the UE is functioning as a programming entity, and other UEs use resources programmed by the UE for wireless communication. A UE can function as a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network and/or a mesh network. In a mesh network, UEs can optionally communicate directly with each other in addition to communicating with the programming entity.

[0039] Thus, in a wireless communication network with a scheduled access to time-frequency resources and which has a cellular configuration, a P2P configuration, and a mesh configuration, a schedule entity and one or more entities subordinates can communicate using programmed resources.

[0040] As noted above, a RAN can include a CU and DUs. A BS NR (e.g. eNB, 5G Node B, Node B, transmit-receive point (TRP), access point (AP)) can correspond to one or multiple BSs. NR cells can be configured as access cells (ACells) or data-only cells (DCells). For example, the RAN (eg a central unit or distributed unit) can configure the cells. DCells can be cells used for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity, but not used for initial access, cell selection/reselection, or handover. In some cases, DCells may not transmit sync signals — in some cases, DCells may transmit SS. NR BSs can transmit downlink signals to UEs that indicate the cell type. Based on the cell type indication, the UE can communicate with the BS NR. For example, the UE may determine that the NR BSs consider cell selection, access, handover and/or metering based on the indicated cell type.

[0041] Figure 2 illustrates an example of logical architecture of a distributed radio access network (RAN) 200, which may be implemented in the wireless communication system illustrated in Figure 1. A 5G access node 206 may include a controller access node (ANC) 202. The ANC may be a central unit (CU) of the distributed RAN 200. The backhaul interface to the next generation main network (NG-CN) 204 may terminate at the ANC. The backhaul interface to neighboring next-generation access nodes (NG-ANs) may terminate at the ANC. The ANC may include one or more 208 TRPs (which may also be called BSs, NR BSs, Node Bs, 5G NBs, APs, gNBs, or some other term). As described above, a TRP can be used interchangeably with "cell".

[0042] TRPs 208 can be a DU. TRPs can be connected to one ANC (ANC 202) or more than one ANC (not shown). For example, for RAN sharing, radio as a service (RaaS), and service-specific AND deployments, the TRP can be connected to more than one ANC. A TRP may include one or more antenna ports. TRPs can be configured to serve individually (e.g. dynamic selection) or jointly (e.g. joint transmission) traffic to a UE.

[0043] Local architecture 200 can be used to illustrate the fronthaul definition. Definable architecture supports fronthaul solutions across different deployment types. For example, the architecture might be based on transmission network capabilities (eg, bandwidth, latency, and/or jitter).

[0044] The architecture may share resources and/or components with LTE. As per the aspects, the next generation AN (NG-AN) 210 can support dual connectivity with NR. NG-AN can share a common fronthaul for LTE and NR.

[0045] The architecture may allow for cooperation between TRPs 208. For example, cooperation may be predefined within a TRP and/or across TRPs via the ANC 202. According to the aspects, no inter-TRP interface may be needed/be present.

[0046] According to the aspects, a dynamic configuration of split logic functions may be present within the architecture 200. As will be described in more detail with reference to Figure 5, the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical (PHY) layer can be adaptively placed on the DU or CU ( e.g. TRP or ANC, respectively). In certain aspects, a BS may include a central unit (CU) (e.g., ANC 202) and/or one or more distributed units (e.g., one or more TRPs 208).

[0047] Figure 3 illustrates an example physical architecture of a distributed RAN 300, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. A centralized main network unit (C-CU) 302 can host main network functions. C-CU can be centrally deployed. C-CU functionality may be offloaded (eg for advanced wireless services (AWS)) in an effort to handle peak capacity.

[0048] A centralized RAN unit (C-RU) 304 may host one or more ANC functions. Optionally, the C-RU can host core network functions locally. The C-RU can have distributed deployment. The C-RU may be closer to the network edge.

[0049] A DU 306 can host one or more

TRPs (edge node (EN), an edge unit (EU), a radio head (RH), an intelligent radio head (SRH) or similar). The DU can be located at the edges of the network with radio frequency (RF) functionality.

[0050] Figure 4 illustrates exemplary components of the BS 110 and UE 120 illustrated in Figure 1 that can be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure. As described above, the BS may include a TRP. One or more components of BS 110 and UE 120 may be used to practice aspects of the present disclosure. For example, antennas 452, processors 466, 458, 464 and/or controller/processor 480 of UE 120 and/or antennas 434, processors 430, 420, 438 and/or controller/processor 440 of BS 110 can be used to perform the operations described herein and illustrated with reference to Figures 9 and 10.

[0051] Figure 4 shows a block diagram of a design of a BS 110 and a UE 120, which may be one of the BSs and one of the UEs in Figure 1. For a restricted association scenario, the base station 110 may be the macro BS 110c in Figure 1 , and the UE 120 may be the UE 120y. Base station 110 can also be a base station of some other type. Base station 110 can be equipped with antennas 434a to 434t, and UE 120 can be equipped with antennas 452a to 452r.

[0052] At base station 110, a broadcast processor 420 may receive data from a data source 412 and control information from a controller/processor 440. Control information may be for the Physical Broadcast Channel ( PBCH), Channel

Physical Control Format Indicator (PCFICH), Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), etc. Data can be for Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), etc. Processor 420 may process (e.g., coding map and symbol) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. Processor 420 may also generate reference symbols, for example, for the PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signal. A transmit (TX) multiple input multiple output (MIMO) processor 430 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, control symbols, and/or reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to modulators (MODs) 432a through 432t. For example, the TX MIMO processor 430 can perform certain aspects described herein for RS multiplexing. Each modulator 432 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 432 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators 432a to 432t may be transmitted via antennas 434a to 434t, respectively.

[0053] At the UE 120, the antennas 452a to 452r can receive the downlink signals from the base station 110 and can provide the received signals to the demodulators (DEMODs) 454a to 454r, respectively. Each demodulator 454 can condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 454 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain the received symbols. A MIMO detector 456 can obtain received symbols from all demodulators 454a through 454r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols, if applicable, and provide the detected symbols. For example, the MIMO detector 456 can provide detected RS transmitted using techniques described herein. A receiving processor 458 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data to the UE 120 to a data collector 460, and provide decoded control information to a controller/processor 480. Accordingly with one or more cases, the CoMP aspects may include the provision of the antennas, as well as some Tx/Rx functionality, so that they are located in distributed units. For example, some Tx/Rx processing can be done at the central unit, while other processing can be done at the distributed units. For example, according to one or more aspects, as shown in the diagram, the mod/demod of BS 432 can be located in the distributed units.

[0054] On the uplink, at the UE 120, a transmission processor 464 can receive and process data (e.g., for the Shared Link Channel

Physical Uplink (PUSCH)) from a data source 462 and control information (e.g., for the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUCCH) from the controller/processor 480. The transmission processor 464 may also generate reference to a reference signal. Symbols from transmission processor 464 may be pre-encoded by a MIMO TX processor 466, if applicable, further processed by demodulators 454a to 454r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.) , and transmitted to base station 110. At BS 110, uplink signals from UE 120 may be received by antennas 434, processed by modulators 432, detected by a MIMO detector 436, if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 438 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE 120. The receive processor 438 may provide the decoded data to a data collector 439 and the information decoded control data for the 440 controller/processor.

[0055] Controllers/processors 440 and 480 can direct operation at base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. Processor 440 and/or other processors and modules at base station 110 may perform or direct processes for the techniques described herein. Processor 480 and/or other processors and modules at UE 120 may also perform or direct processes for the techniques described herein. Memories 442 and 482 can store data and program codes for the BS 110 and UE 120,

respectively. A scheduler 444 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.

[0056] Figure 5 illustrates a diagram 500 showing examples for implementing a communication protocol stack, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The illustrated communications protocol stacks can be implemented by devices operating in a 5G system (for example, a system that supports uplink-based mobility). Diagram 500 illustrates a communication protocol stack that includes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer 510, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer 515, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer. ) 520, a Media Access Control (MAC) layer 525, and a Physical (PHY) layer 530. In various examples, layers of a protocol stack can be implemented as separate software modules, portions of a processor or ASIC , portions of non-co-located devices connected by a communications link or various combinations thereof. Both co-located and non-co-located implementations can be used, for example, in a protocol stack for a network access device (eg ANs, CUs and/or DUs) or a UE.

[0057] A first 505-a option shows a split implementation of a protocol stack, where the protocol stack implementation is split between a centralized network access device (e.g., an ANC 202 in Figure 2) and distributed network access (eg DU 208 in Figure 2). In the first option 505-a, an RRC layer 510 and a PDCP layer 515 can be implemented by the central unit, and an RLC layer 520, a MAC layer 525 and a PHY layer 530 can be implemented by the DU. In several examples, the CU and DU can be colocated or non-co-located. The first option 505-a may be useful in a macrocell, microcell, or picocell implantation.

[0058] A second 505-b option shows a unified implementation of a protocol stack, where the protocol stack is implemented in a single network access device (e.g. access node (AN), base station new radio (NR BS), a new radio Node B (NB NR), a network node (NN) or similar). In the second option, the RRC layer 510, the PDCP layer 515, the RLC layer 520, the MAC layer 525 and the PHY layer 530 can each be implemented by the AN. The second 505-b option may be useful in a femtocell implantation.

[0059] Regardless of whether a network access device implements part or all of the protocol stack, a UE can implement the entire protocol stack (e.g. RRC layer 510, PDCP layer 515, RLC layer 520, MAC layer 525 and the PHY layer 530).

[0060] Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of a 600 frame format for NR. The transmission timeline for each of the downlink and uplink can be partitioned into units of radio frames. Each radio frame can have a predetermined duration (for example, 10 ms) and can be partitioned into 10 subframes, each of 1 ms, with indices from 0 to 9. Each subframe can include a variable number of partitions depending on the radio spacing. subcarrier. Each partition can include a variable number of symbol periods (eg 7 or 14 symbols) depending on subcarrier spacing. The symbol periods in each partition can be assigned indices. A mini-partition, which can be referred to as a sub-partition structure, refers to a transmission time slot that has a duration shorter than a partition (eg, 2, 3, or 4 symbols).

[0061] Each symbol in a partition can indicate a link direction (eg DL, UL or flexible) for data transmission and the link direction for each subframe can be dynamically switched. Link directions can be based on partition format. Each partition can include DL/UL data as well as DL/UL control information.

[0062] In NR, a sync signal block (SS) (SSB) is transmitted. The SS block includes a PSS, an SSS, and a two-symbol PBCH. The SS block can be transmitted at a fixed partition location, such as symbols 0 to 3, as shown in Figure 6. PSS and SSS can be used by UEs for cell lookup and acquisition. PSS can provide half frame timing, SS can provide CP length and frame timing. PSS and SSS can provide cell identity. The PBCH carries some basic system information such as downlink system bandwidth, timing information within the radio frame, SS burst set periodicity, system frame number, etc. SS blocks can be arranged into SS bursts to support beam scanning. Additional system information such as minimum remaining system information (RMSI), system information blocks (SIBs), other system information (OSI) may be transmitted on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in certain subframes. The SS block can be transmitted up to sixty-four times, for example, with up to sixty-four different beam directions for mmW. The up to sixty-four transmissions of the SS block are called the SS burst set. SS blocks in one set of SS bursts are transmitted in the same frequency region, while SS blocks in different sets of SS bursts can be transmitted in different frequency locations.

[0063] In some circumstances, two or more subordinate entities (eg, UEs) may communicate with each other using side-link signals. Real-world applications of such side-link communications may include public safety, proximity services, UE-to-network relay, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, Internet of Everything (IoE) communications, IoT communications, mission-critical mesh, and /or various other suitable applications. Generally speaking, a side-link signal can refer to a signal communicated from a subordinate entity (e.g. UE1) to another subordinate entity (e.g. UE2) without retransmitting that communication through the scheduling entity (e.g. , UE or BS), even though the programming entity may be used for programming and/or control purposes. In some examples, side-link signals may be communicated using licensed spectrum (unlike wireless LANs, which typically use unlicensed spectrum).

[0064] A UE can operate in various radio resource configurations, including a configuration associated with transmitting pilots using a dedicated resource set (e.g. a dedicated radio resource control (RRC) state, etc. .) or a configuration associated with transmitting pilots using a common resource set (eg a common RRC state, etc.). When operating in the RRC dedicated state, the UE can select a dedicated resource set to transmit a pilot signal to a network. When operating in the RRC common state, the UE can select a common resource set to transmit a pilot signal to the network. In either case, a pilot signal transmitted by the UE may be received by one or more network access devices, such as an AN or a DU or portions thereof. Each network access device can be configured to receive and measure pilot signals transmitted in the common resource pool, and also receive and measure pilot signals transmitted in the dedicated resource pools allocated in the UEs for which the network access device is a member of a network access device. a network access device monitoring suite for the UE. One or more of the receiving network access devices, or a CU to which the receiving network access device(s) transmits the pilot signal measurements, may use the measurements to identify serving cells for the UEs, or for initiate a serving cell change for one or more of the UEs.

EXAMPLES OF ANTENNA ARRAY MODULE MODE ADJUSTMENTS

[0065] A UE may have a different number of antenna array modules provided at different locations on or within the UE to optimize transmission and reception, for example while the UE is in different locations and/or orientations. The arrangement of each antenna module (or panel) may vary depending on the specific UE and the number, size and other properties of each of the modules.

[0066] An example of a UE 700 and a possible antenna array module placement configuration, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, is shown in Figure 7. As shown in this embodiment, the UE 700 includes two modules 702 and 704 The first of the modules, labeled Module 1 (702), is shown situated on a front surface of the UE 700 in the upper left corner of the device. Additionally, the second module, labeled Module 2 (704), is shown situated on a back surface in a lower right corner of the UE 700 device.

[0067] To save power, a UE such as the UE 700 shown in Figure 7 can keep only one antenna array module (or some subset of antenna array modules) in an activated activation mode (in service) , while keeping other antenna array modules in a low power (suspended) mode. Beam switching latency (from a first beam to a second beam) within the same activated module is typically short and predictable. For example, a beam switching latency can be approx.

250us or less from receiving downlink control information (DCI) with a beam switching command to actual completion of beam switching. However, beam switching latency across wake and sleep modules (from a first beam associated with an activated module to a second beam associated with a disabled module) depends on UE capability and low power type (sleep ), for example deep suspension/light suspension.

[0068] An example of antenna array module mode switching and timing is shown in Figure

8. Figure 8 illustrates an example of 800 mode adjustments for antenna array modules (Module 1 and Module 2) over time, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0069] As shown, Module 1 can start in an 802 wake mode while Module 2 can start in an 806 sleep mode. Module 1 can wake up from 802 on (wake up) mode and transition to a sleep mode. low power (sleep) 804 that can occur while module 2 is still in its sleep mode 806. Module 2 can then transition from sleep mode 806 to a wake mode 808 as shown.

[0070] Furthermore, a beam switching command from a network entity (e.g. an NB) is shown being received at a time when module 1 is in an 802 activation mode and module 2 is in an 806 sleep mode. Also shown in Figure 8 is an example of a beam switching latency across the modules (from Module 1 enabled to Module 2 in sleep mode). As indicated, the beam switching latency corresponds to the time from the moment the beam switching command is received until the moment Module 2 is activated.

[0071] Unfortunately, without knowing if the target module for a beam switching is in a sleep mode, an NB may not know the corresponding beam switching time. Aspects of the present disclosure, however, provide a mechanism for a UE to indicate a beam switching latency. An NB can use this indicated latency, for example, to determine when beam switching is complete and the UE is able to process a transmission (for example, a measurement signal, such as a CSI-RS transmission).

EXAMPLES OF TIME CAPACITY FEEDBACK BEAM SWITCHING

[0072] In accordance with one or more aspects disclosed herein, feedback of the beam switching time capability of a UE is provided. In some cases, a UE may signal a beam switching latency indication, which can help address scenarios, such as the case where a target module is in a sleep mode. In some cases, the indication may be provided as part of a UE capability exchange. In accordance with certain aspects disclosed herein, the UE can only feed back a maximum beam switching latency across all source/destination module pairs, it can dynamically signal the beam switching latency per switch, or the UE can feedback a beam switching latency per target module.

[0073] Figure 9 illustrates operations 900 for wireless communications that may be performed by a first device, such as a user equipment (UE), in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. For example, operations 900 can be performed by UE 700 of Figure 7 with multiple antenna array modules.

[0074] Operations 900 begin, at 902, by determining a latency associated with a beam switching from a source antenna array module to a target antenna array module when the target module is in a of low power. At 904, the first device signals a second device to use latency to determine when, after the second device sends a beam switching command to the first device, the first device is able to process a set of measurement signals. The set of measurement signals may include, for example, channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), certain synchronization signals (for example, ported in an SS block as shown in Figure 6) used for measurement and/or any other type of measurement signals.

[0075] Figure 10 illustrates operations 1000 for wireless communications that may be performed by a first device (e.g., a network entity) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. For example, operations 1000 may be performed by a base station 110 of Figure 4 serving a UE that performs operation 900 of Figure 9 described above.

[0076] Operations 1000 begin, in 1002, upon receiving, from a second device, signaling that indicates a latency associated with a beam switching in the second device. At 1004, the first device uses latency to determine when, after the first device sends a beam switching command to the second device, the second device is able to process a set of measurement signals.

[0077] The latency indicated by a UE may indicate a minimum processing time required by the UE to perform beam switching and be able to process a subsequent transmission after switching. For example, if a downlink control information (DCI) transmission triggers an aperiodic CSI-RS (A-CSI-RS) transmission, the UE may only be able to process the CSI-RS transmission if a schedule offset indicated in the DCI is greater than the minimum time for a beam switching latency.

[0078] Thus, if a UE has signaled one or more latency values, an NB (gNB) must configure the A-CSI-RS for at least that amount of time after scheduling DCIs. this can help ensure that the UE has sufficient time to power on/activate all antenna array modules (panels) that were suspended in order to receive A-CSI-RS transmissions simultaneously based on the indicated beam if the other DCIs of schedule.

[0079] In some cases, a UE may signal that a single time value that the UE uses needs to turn on one or multiple panels/for simultaneous reception. In some cases, instead of explicitly signaling what a latency value is for an inter-panel beam switching, a UE may simply signal the latency values. In such cases, an NB can infer the intended use when a UE signals a high number for latency, is that the UE wants enough time to turn on all panels (as opposed to beam switching on the same panel). A UE can signal a value large enough to cover a beam switching across all panels, to provide enough time to turn panels on even from a deep suspension.

[0080] From the NB perspective, each signaled value for a beam switching latency may indicate that when the NB signals the UE to switch beams, it needs to give the UE at least that amount of time before it can process the CSI-RS.

[0081] In some cases, the indicated latency may include a maximum beam switching latency for beam switching across all possible source and destination antenna array module pairs. Furthermore, the indicated latency can be fixed, and the network entity can assume the indicated latency for at least all cross-module beam switches. Additionally, the UE can dynamically update the indicated latency based on a current power mode of the target antenna array module (e.g. longer latency is used if the module is in a deep sleep mode instead of on the light suspension module). If the UE does not provide additional indication on which beam switches the indicated latency should be applied, the base station may apply the indicated latency to all beam switches associated with the UE.

[0082] As an optimization, the indicated latency can only be applied to a cross-module beam switch with the target module in sleep. Ideally, a beam switching within the same module or across active modules can still use a standard latency (eg < 250 us). To achieve optimization, a UE may need to tell the base station (NB) which beam switches should use the indicated latency. In some cases, additional operations may be provided which may include, for example, indicating to the base station one or more predetermined beam switches that must use the indicated latency. Furthermore, the one or more predetermined beam switches may be signaled as a Channel State Information (CSI) Reference Signal ID or a CSI Reference Signal Resource Configuration ID (CSI-RS).

[0083] In some cases, additional operations may be performed which may include, for example, indicating to the base station whether the indicated latency of and be used by beam switching. In addition, a beam switching command can be signaled via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), and the UE can indicate whether or not the base station should use the indicated latency via of an acknowledgment (ACK). In some cases, the UE may indicate in advance which beam switching is for a target antenna array module that is in a low power state. The indication of which beam switching is for a target antenna array module that is in a low power state can be provided through an index. For example, a UE can tell the base station that a UE beam index is associated with a module index, so the base station knows which beam switching is the cross module. The UE Beam Index may be signaled via the Resource ID of the Reference Signal in spatially quasi-co-located relationship with the UE Beam, where the Reference Signal Resource ID includes SRS Resource ID (SRI), ID block SS(SSB ID) and CSI-RS resource ID. In addition, the UE can also signal to the base station which target module is in a low power state via explicit module power state feedback or implicit signaling, for example signaling the association between the beam indices of UE with a module index implies that this module is in a low power state.

[0084] In some cases, the UE may dynamically signal a beam switching latency by beam switching (eg provide different latency values for different combinations of source and destination beams). Furthermore, the beam switching command can be signaled through a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), and the UE can indicate whether or not the network entity should use the indicated latency through of an acknowledgment (ACK).

[0085] In some cases, the UE may signal a beam switching latency per target antenna array module. Furthermore, the latency indicated by target module can be fixed. Additionally, additional operations can be performed which include, for example, updating the indicated latency (signaling an updated latency) per target module based on the current module power state. For example, the UE can dynamically determine the beam switching latency for a given target module based on whether or not that module is in a deep/light sleep. Furthermore, the UE can inform the target module in advance by beam switching to the base station. For example, the UE can tell the base station that a UE beam index is associated with a module index, so the base station knows the destination module by beam switching and therefore applies the switching latency of corresponding beam accordingly. As noted above, the UE beam index may be signaled via the resource ID of the reference signal in spatially quasi-co-located relation to the UE beam, wherein the reference signal resource ID includes the SRS resource ID ( SRI), SS Block ID(SSB ID) and CSI-RS Resource ID.

[0086] In some cases, the UE may signal a beam switching latency per beam switching type. Furthermore, each of multiple types of beam switching may have a corresponding beam switching latency, and the UE may feed back a beam switching latency per type, which may override a corresponding default value. Each beam switching type can be defined in defaults or negotiated between the base station and the UE, and can have a default latency value. In some cases, these types of beam switching latency may include, for example,

4 types of beam switching latencies associated with PDSCH triggered by DCI, PUSCH, CSI-RS aperiodic, or aperiodic SRS beam switching on downlink or uplink, where the base station and UE will switch Tx and Rx beams to transmit and receive the 4 types of downlink signals after the corresponding beam switching latency by type from the end of the trigger DCI to the end of the Tx and Rx beam switching.

[0087] In some cases, different types of beam switching latency may include, for example, a type of beam switching latency associated with DCI-triggered aperiodic CSI-RS with Tx beam repetition ON through resources within the aperiodic CSI-RS feature set. When replay is ON, the base station will transmit the aperiodic CSI-RS resource set with the same Tx beam across all resources within the set, while the UE will measure Tx beam quality by resource using beams Different Rx through different resources. In this way, the UE can find the best Rx beam associated with the fixed Tx beam, and this UE Rx beam refinement procedure is commonly called the P-3 procedure. The associated beam switching latency is defined from the end of the triggering DCIs to the beginning of transmission and reception of the aperiodic CSI-RS feature set. The UE can signal or update the desired beam switching latency for procedure P3 to the base station, which will override any existing standard beam switching latency.

[0088] In some cases, these types of beam switching latency may include, for example, a type of beam switching latency associated with DCI-triggered aperiodic CSI-RS with Tx beam repetition OFF via resources within the aperiodic CSI-RS feature set. When repeat is OFF, the base station will transmit the aperiodic CSI-RS resource pool with different Tx beams across all resources within the pool, while the UE will measure Tx beam quality per resource using the same Rx beam through different features. In this way, the UE can find the best Tx beam associated with the fixed Rx beam, and this base station Tx beam refinement procedure is commonly called the P-2 procedure. The associated beam switching latency is defined from the end of the triggering DCIs to the beginning of transmission and reception of the aperiodic CSI-RS feature set. The UE can signal or update the desired beam switching latency for procedure P-2 to the base station, which will override any existing standard beam switching latency.

[0089] In some cases, these types of beam switching latencies may include, for example, 4 types of beam switching latencies associated with MAC-CE triggered PDCCH, PUCCH, semi-periodic CSI-RS, or SRS beam switching semiperiodic on the downlink, wherein the base station and UE will switch Tx and Rx beams to transmit and receive the 4 types of signals on the downlink or uplink after the corresponding beam switching latency per type from the end of the MAC-CE from tripped to completion of Tx and Rx beam switching.

[0090] All of the above mentioned beam switching latencies may be subcarrier spacing (SCS) dependent, i.e. the UE may signal the beam switching latency per SCS, e.g. 14 symbols for SCS = 60 kHz, 28 symbols for SCS = 120 kHz, 56 symbols for SCS = 240 kHz. Other possible values (for example, which may also depend on SCS) include 48, 224, or 336 symbols. As noted above, in some cases a UE may not explicitly indicate that a given latency is associated with interpanel beam switching. Instead, an NB can infer that a higher latency value is for inter-panel beam switching, while a lower latency value is associated with intra-beam switching.

[0091] In one or more cases, as part of a capability, a UE may feed back beam switching latency in order to help address a case where a target module is in a sleep mode. In one or more cases, an option may include a UE feedback only the maximum beam switching latency across all source/destination module pairs. In some cases, the latency indicated is fixed, so that an NB can always assume these latencies at least for all cross-module beam switches. In some cases, the indicated latency can be dynamically updated by a UE based on a current hang situation of the modules. The UE can dynamically determine the maximum latency based on which module is in a sleep mode or state and/or a deep/light sleep mode or state. An NB can assume this updated latency for at least all cross-module beam switches. If no further indication on which beam switches the indicated latency is to be applied, the NB may apply the indicated latency to all beam switches

[0092] In some cases, as an optimization, the indicated latency may apply only to cross-module beam switching with the target module in sleep. In some cases, a beam switching within the same module or across active modules may still use a default latency which can be, for example, less than 250 us.

[0093] In one or more cases, different options may be provided to tell an NB which beam switches to use the indicated latency. In some cases, a UE may inform the predetermined beam switches that must use the indicated latency. If longer beam switching is desired, (e.g. for a P2/P3 beam management (BM) procedure), the UE can indicate the CSI-measId or CSI-RS-resourceConfigId, and the NB can then apply the indicated latency between the corresponding DCI and AP-CSI-RS. In some cases, a UE may signal whether or not to use the latency indicated by beam switching. For example, if a beam switching command is signaled on MAC-CE as for PDCCH and PUCCH, the UE can indicate that it should use the latency indicated or not in the ACK. In some cases, a UE may indicate in advance which beam switch is the cross module with the target module on hold. For example, the UE can tell an NB what SRI ID/SSB/CSI-RS ID to indicate a UE beam is associated with a module index, so the NB can know which switch is the cross module, and the target module must be suspended if such an association is flagged.

[0094] In some cases, instead of signaling single latency, a UE may indicate beam switching latency per destination module. In some cases, the latency indicated per target module may be fixed. The NB can therefore always assume this latency for the given destination module. In some cases, latency indicated by target module can be dynamically updated by a UE based on the current module sleep situation. In this way, the UE can dynamically determine the beam switching latency for that target module based on its sleep or sleep and deep/light sleep. In some cases, a UE may need to inform the NB of the target module by beam switching in advance.

[0095] In one or more cases, instead of signaling single latency, multiple types of beam switching latency for various applications can be defined. Each beam switching type can therefore be configurable and can have a default latency value. A UE can then feed back the beam switching latency by type, which will override the default value if it exists. In some cases, these types of beam switching latency may include, for example, DCI, PUSCH, AP-CSI-RS, or AP-SRS triggered PDSCH beam switching. In particular, DCI triggered AP-CSI-RS beam switching can be further divided into 2 cases: resources in the triggered AP-CSI-RS feature set have repeat ON (for BM P3) or OFF (for BM P1/P2 ), which can have different beam switching latency configured. Another type of beam switching latency may include PDCCH beam switching triggered by MAC-CE, PUCCH, SPCSI-RS or SP-SRS.

[0096] In one or more cases, all previously mentioned beam switching latencies may be subcarrier spacing (SCS) dependent. A UE may signal beam switching latency per SCS, for example 14 symbols for SCS = 60 kHz, 28 symbols for SCS = 120 kHz, 56 symbols for SCS = 240 kHz.

[0097] The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions to achieve the method described. Method steps and/or actions may be interchanged without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0098] As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including unique members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc, as well as any combination of multiples of the same element (e.g., aa aaa , aab, aac, a-bb, acc, bb, bbb, bbc, cc, and ccc or any other order of a, b and c). As used herein, including the claims, the term "and/or", when used in a list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items may be employed alone or any combination of two or more of the items listed. Listed items can be employed. For example, if a composition is described as containing components A, B and/or C, the composition may contain A itself; B alone; C by itself; A and B in combination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B and C in combination.

[0099] As used herein, the term “determine” encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, "determine" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, searching (eg, searching a table, database, or other data structure), verifying, and the like. Furthermore, “determine” may include receiving (eg, receiving information), accessing (eg, accessing data in a memory), and the like. Furthermore, “determine” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing and the like.

[0100] The foregoing description is provided to enable anyone skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles defined herein can be applied to other aspects. Thus, claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but must conform to the full scope consistent with the language claims, where reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "a and only one", unless specifically stated so, but instead, "one or more". For example, the articles "a" and "an" as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be interpreted to mean "one or more", unless otherwise specified or clear from the context to be directed to a singular form.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "some" refers to one or more.

Furthermore, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”.

That is, unless otherwise specified, or clear from the context, the phrase, for example, "X employs A or B" is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations.

That is, for example, the sentence “X employs A or B” is satisfied by any of the following instances: X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B.

All functional and structural equivalents to elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure, which are known or will be known later to one of ordinary skill in the art, are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be embraced. by the claims.

Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly cited in the claims.

No element of claim shall be construed under the provisions of Title 35 of USC §112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly enumerated using the phrase “means to” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is enumerated using the phrase “step of”.

[0101] The various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions. The means may include various hardware and/or software components and/or modules, including, but not limited to, a circuit, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or processor. Generally, where there are operations illustrated in the Figures, those operations may have corresponding equivalent means plus function components. For example, various operations shown in Figures 9 and 10 may be performed by multiple processors shown in Figure 4. For example, operations 900 of Figure 9 may be performed by one or more processors of UE 120 shown in Figure 4, while operations 900 of Figure 9 may be performed by one or more processors of UE 120 shown in Figure 4 1000 can be performed by one or more processors of the base station 110 of Figure 4.

[0102] For example, means for transmitting and/or means for receiving may comprise one or more of a transmit processor 420, a MIMO TX processor 430, a receive processor 438, or base station antenna(s) 434 110 and/or transmit processor 464, a MIMO TX processor 466, a receive processor 458, or antenna(s) 452 of user equipment 120. Additionally, means for determining, means for performing, means for reporting, means for replacing , means for using and/or means for updating may comprise one or more processors, such as controller/processor 440 of base station 110 and/or controller/processor 480 of user equipment 120.

[0103] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules and circuits described in conjunction with the present disclosure may be implemented or realized with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an array of field programmable gates (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor can be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors together with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0104] If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration might comprise a processing system on a wireless node. The processing system can be implemented with a bus architecture. The bus can include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system and overall design constraints. The bus can link to multiple circuits including a processor, machine-readable media, and bus interface. The bus interface can be used to connect a network adapter, among others, to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter can be used to implement PHY layer signal processing functions. In the case of a user terminal 120 (see Figure 1), a user interface (eg numeric keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) can also be connected to the bus. The bus may also link to various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further. The processor may be implemented with one or more general-purpose and/or special-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuitry that can run software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how to best implement the described functionality for the processing system depending on the particular application and general design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0105] If implemented in software, functions may be stored or transmitted as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Software should be interpreted broadly to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Computer readable media include both computer storage media and communication media which include any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one location to another.

The processor may be responsible for bus management and general processing, including running software modules stored on machine-readable storage media.

A computer readable storage medium may be coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium.

Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral with the processor.

By way of example, the machine-readable media may include a transmission line, a data-modulated carrier wave, and/or a computer-readable storage medium with instructions stored therein separate from the wireless node, all of which are accessible. by the processor through the bus interface.

Alternatively or additionally, the machine-readable media, or any portion thereof, may be integrated into the processor, as may be the case with cached and/or general log files.

Examples of machine-readable storage media may include, by way of example, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, phase shift memory, ROM (Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory) , EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), records, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks or any other suitable storage medium or any combination thereof.

Machine readable media may be embedded in a computer program product.

[0106] A software module can comprise a single instruction or many instructions, and can be distributed across several different code segments, between different programs and across multiple storage media. Computer readable media may comprise various software modules. Software modules include instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, such as a processor, cause the processing system to perform various functions. Software modules may include a transmit module and a receive module. Each software module can reside on a single storage device or can be distributed across multiple storage devices. As an example, a software module can be loaded into RAM from a hard disk when a trigger event occurs. During the execution of the software module, the processor may load some of the cached instructions to increase access speed. One or more cached lines can then be loaded into a general log file for execution by the processor. When referring to the functionality of a software module below, it will be understood that the functionality is implemented by the processor when executing instructions from that software module.

[0107] Furthermore, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared (IR), radio and microwave, so coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Magnetic disc and optical disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray® disc where magnetic discs generally reproduce data magnetically, while optical discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Thus, in some respects, computer-readable media may comprise non-transient computer-readable media (eg, tangible media). In addition, for other aspects, computer-readable media may comprise transient computer-readable media (eg, a sign). Combinations of the foregoing should also fall within the scope of computer readable media.

[0108] Thus, certain aspects may comprise a computer program product to perform the operations presented in this document. For example, such a computer program product may comprise a computer readable medium that has instructions stored (and/or encoded) therein, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform the operations described herein. For example, instructions for carrying out the operations described in this document and illustrated in the attached figures.

[0109] Furthermore, it should be noted that the modules and/or other suitable means for carrying out the methods and techniques described in this document may be downloaded and/or otherwise obtained by a user terminal and/or station -base, as applicable. For example, such a device may be coupled to a server to facilitate the transfer of media to carry out the methods described herein. Alternatively, various methods described in the present document may be provided through storage media (e.g. RAM, ROM, a physical storage medium such as a compact disk (CD) or floppy disk, etc.), so that a terminal user and/or base station can obtain the various methods by attaching or providing the storage media to the device. In addition, any other technique suitable for providing the methods and techniques described herein for a device may be used.

[0110] It should be understood that the claims are not limited to the precise configuration and components illustrated above. Various modifications, alterations and variations may be made to the arrangement, operation and details of the methods and apparatus described herein without departing from the scope of the claims.

Claims (40)

1. A method for wireless communications by means of a first device comprising: determining at least one latency associated with a beam switching in the first device; and signaling a second device to use the at least one latency to determine when, after the second device sends a beam switching command to the first device, the first device is capable of processing a set of measurement signals. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of measurement signals comprises channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS). A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first device includes a user equipment (UE). The method of claim 1, wherein the second device includes a base station (BS). The method of claim 1, wherein the beam switching includes receiving beam switching on the downlink receive signal from the second device. The method of claim 1, wherein the beam switching includes transmit beam switching in the uplink transmission signal to the second device. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device signals a beam switching latency per beam switching type. The method of claim 7, wherein: each of multiple types of beam switching has a corresponding beam switching latency; and the first device signals the second device to use a beam switching latency per type. The method of claim 7, wherein: each of multiple types of beam switching has a corresponding standard beam switching latency which may be substituted for the beam switching latency signaled by the first device per type. The method of claim 7, wherein the latency types comprise: a beam switching triggered by downlink control information (DCI) on the downlink. The method of claim 10, wherein the DCI-triggered downlink beam switching includes a sequence of switched transmit beams in the second device, wherein each switched beam is used to transmit each resource of a set of aperiodic channel state information reference signal capabilities with transmission beam repeat enabled through features within the feature set. The method of claim 10, wherein the DCI-triggered downlink beam switching includes a sequence of switched receive beams in the first device, wherein each switched beam is used to receive each resource from a set of aperiodic channel state information reference signals capabilities with transmit beam repetition enabled through features within the feature set. The method of claim 10, wherein the DCI-triggered downlink beam switching includes a sequence of switched transmit beams in the second device, wherein each switched beam is used to transmit each resource of a set of aperiodic channel state information reference signals resources with transmission beam repetition disabled through resources within the resource set. The method of claim 10, wherein the DCI-triggered downlink beam switching includes a sequence of switched receive beams in the first device, wherein each switched beam is used to receive each resource from a set of aperiodic channel state information reference signals resources with transmission beam repetition disabled through resources within the resource set. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device signals a beam switching latency that depends, at least in part, on subcarrier spacing. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the latency is associated with a beam switching from a source antenna array module to a target antenna array module when the target module is in a low power mode. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one latency comprises: a first latency associated with a beam switching from a beam associated with a source antenna array module to a beam associated with a target antenna array module; and a second latency, less than the first latency, associated with a beam switching from a beam associated with the source antenna array module to another beam associated with the source antenna array module. The method of claim 16, further comprising: determining an updated value for latency based on a current power mode of the target antenna array module; and signaling to the second device an indication of the updated value for the latency. A method according to claim 1, wherein: the first device receives a signaled beam switching command via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE); and the first device indicates, by means of an acknowledgment (ACK), whether or not the second device should use the indicated latency to determine when the first device is capable of processing the set of measurement signals. 20. A method for wireless communications by means of a first device comprising: receiving, from a second device, signaling indicating a latency associated with a beam switching in the second device; and using latency to determine when, after the first device sends a beam switching command to the second device, the second device is capable of processing a set of measurement signals. The method of claim 20, wherein the set of measurement signals comprises channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS). The method of claim 20, wherein the first device includes a base station (BS). The method of claim 20, wherein the second device includes a user equipment (UE). The method of claim 20, wherein the beam switching includes downlink receive beam switching. The method of claim 20, wherein the beam switching includes transmit beam switching on the uplink. The method of claim 20, wherein the second device signals a beam switching latency per beam switching type. A method according to claim 26, wherein: each of multiple types of beam switching has a corresponding beam switching latency; and the second device feeds back a beam switching latency per type. The method of claim 26, wherein: each of multiple types of beam switching has a corresponding standard beam switching latency which may be replaced by the beam switching latency signaled by the second device per type. The method of claim 26, wherein the latency types comprise: a beam switching triggered by downlink control information (DCI) on the downlink. The method of claim 29, wherein the DCI-triggered downlink beam switching includes a sequence of switched transmit beams in the first device, wherein each switched beam is used to transmit each resource of a set of aperiodic channel state information reference signals capabilities with transmission beam repetition enabled through features within the feature set. The method of claim 29, wherein the DCI-triggered downlink beam switching includes a sequence of switched receive beams in the second device, wherein each switched beam is used to receive each resource from a set of aperiodic channel state information reference signals capabilities with transmit beam repetition enabled through features within the feature set. The method of claim 29, wherein the DCI-triggered downlink beam switching includes a sequence of switched transmit beams in the first device, wherein each switched beam is used to transmit each resource of a set of aperiodic channel state information reference signals resources with transmission beam repetition disabled through resources within the resource set. The method of claim 29, wherein the DCI-triggered downlink beam switching includes a sequence of switched receive beams in the second device, wherein each switched beam is used to receive each resource from a set of aperiodic channel state information reference signals resources with transmission beam repetition disabled through resources within the resource set. The method of claim 20, wherein the second device signals a beam switching latency that depends, at least in part, on subcarrier spacing. The method of claim 20, wherein the latency is associated with a beam switching from a source antenna array module to a target antenna array module when the target module is in a low power mode. The method of claim 35, wherein: the at least one latency comprises at least a first latency and a second, shorter latency, the first latency; the first device is configured to select the first latency to determine when the second device is capable of processing the set of measurement signals if the beam switching command switches from a beam associated with a source antenna array module to a beam associated with a target module; and the first device is configured to select the second latency to determine when the second device is capable of processing the set of measurement signals if the beam switching command switches from a beam associated with the source antenna array module to another beam associated with the source antenna array module. The method of claim 35, further comprising receiving signaling from the second device that indicates an updated latency based on a current power mode of the target antenna array module of the second device. The method of claim 20, wherein: a beam switching command is signaled via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE); and the second device indicates whether or not the second device should use the latency indicated via an acknowledgment (ACK). 39. Apparatus for wireless communications via a first device comprising: means for determining at least one latency associated with a beam switching in the first device; and means for signaling a second device to use the at least one latency to determine when, after the second device sends a beam switching command to the first device, the first device is capable of processing a set of measurement signals. 40. Apparatus for wireless communications via a first device comprising: means for receiving, from a second device, signaling indicating a latency associated with a beam switching in the second device; and means for using latency to determine when, after the first device sends a beam switching command to the second device, the second device is capable of processing a set of measurement signals.